1. Field of the Invention
This application relates broadly to fishing equipment. More particularly, it concerns outrigger devices for use with fishing boats.
2. Description of the Prior An
In sportfishing operations, a conventional procedure is to troll fishing lines astern of the fishing boat from outrigger devices that hold the lines spaced apart a sufficient distance to prevent them from becoming entangled with one another due to the movement of the boat or the action of the sea.
Typically, each outrigger device includes an elongated tubular unit, e.g., 10-30 ft. long, having its inboard end fastened in some manner to the fishing boat so that it can be moved from a stowage position while the boat is not actually engaged in fishing, e.g., underway to or from the fishing grounds, to a trolling position while the boat is engaged in fishing.
On large, offshore type sportfishing boats, the outrigger devices are typically of the tubular, cable-trussed, mast type pivoted by their inboard ends upon a vertical portion of the cabin or other boat superstructure and have associated boom elements to enable the outrigger to be firmly held in the stowage or trolling position while permitting easy movement between such separated positions (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,632,050 & 4,889,064).
On smaller fishing boats, often powered by outboard motors, the outrigger devices are less complicated than the tubular mast type used on the offshore, sportfishing boats. Typically, such outriggers comprise only a single piece of tubing, often tapered, pivoted by the inboard end to the gunwale or equivalent horizontal surface of the boat (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,008,259).
One style of the smaller fishing boats that is very popular because the layout of such boats provides a large area of cockpit sole for use by boat occupants during fishing, is the so-called "center console" type. An improved form of outrigger device for use with such motorboats equipped with T-tops has been developed (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,346).
The present invention further advances the art of outrigger design by providing outrigger devices of relatively simple construction particularly useful on sportfishing boats of the 20-30 foot type.